{No Spread, No Chill} Vanilla Cutout Cookies

People have frequently asked me if I have a favorite sugar/cutout cookie recipe. Up until now, the answer was no. Michael and I aren't huge fans and during the holidays our moms have their recipes so there's be no one to even make them for. BUT-then I had my baby shower and decided it would be cute to make elephant cookies as favors (I happened to have an elephant cookie cutter) and decided it was time to try to find a recipe.

Allie of Baking a Moment had a recipe that appealed to me-a nice, simple, ingredient list (nothing crazy) for cookies that don't spread, have nice clean edges, and you don't need to chill the dough (heck, you don't even need to soften the butter!). It seemed simple and pretty much flawless, and I trust Allie so I felt confident that this recipe would work out well.

There are a lot of feelings associated with cutout cookie recipes-my and Michael's mom's both couldn't understand why I wouldn't want to use their recipes, and talked about how everyone in their families love theirs. And they're both fine but they weren't what I was looking for. I knew I needed to find my recipe.

And this is totally it!! The recipe was crazy simple and yielded perfectly clean edges, no spreading, and surprisingly sturdy cookies (people kept asking if the trunks broke a lot and they really didn't! These were solid cookies). They were also pretty straightforward and easy to make. And a total bonus? Remember how Michael and I are meh on this kind of cookie? We both actually thought these were tasty-they have a really nice balance of sugar and butter and vanilla flavors. I'm kind of in love and will 100% be using this recipe from now on for any cutout cookie needs I may have. This is one of those moments where you feel like a total grownup. Just in time for us becoming parents, I guess, lol.